The Case
Philips Electronics enjoys a sterling reputation worldwide as a leading innovator in the realm of consumer electronics - everywhere, that is, except in the U.S. In 1999, the
Dutch company's North American unit turned to Brodeur Worldwide, its corporate affairs agency of record, to remedy that situation.
In this case, the first rule of writing applied also to PR: Show, don't tell. The Brodeur team figured the best way to position Philips as a leader in home electronics would be
to give consumers and the media a hands-on demonstration of what the company had to offer.
Engineered Time Travel
To that end, Brodeur brought to the U.S. "La Casa Prossima Futura" (translation: "House of the Near Future"), a display of Philips consumer products the company had already
mounted at a furniture show in Milan. Concept items in the show included "Mimic World," a virtual reality receiver/projector, and "Simple Simon," a tabletop information unit that
stores data such as personal diary entries, photo albums, financial planning documents and games.
To pique media interest, the Brodeur team armed itself with a set of sterling visuals to give American editors a sense of the futuristic products they could expect to see once
the electronics showcase arrived at Saks Fifth Avenue in New York in September 1999.
Getting a head start on media pitching before the display arrived was critical, according to Vanessa Ho Nikolovski, account director at Brodeur. Specific targets included
design-driven pubs with reporters who would be hooked not just by the technology, but also the artistic and aesthetic elements of the program. Hot properties such as
Architectural Digest, House Beautiful and the Sunday home sections of the big dailies topped this list.
The agency team also homed in on vertical pubs in the consumer electronics space, vying for coverage in the context of the latest cutting-edge toys. Pitches to curious
journalists came with all the bells and whistles - product photos, access to Philips' design execs and a white paper articulating Philips' vision of the digital home of the
future.
Personalized contact with editors ultimately set the tone for the entire campaign. "We started very early to feel out our media contacts," says Nikolovski. "That way we were
able to really understand what they wanted to cover, so that what we were doing could be in synch with their editorial calendars for the year."
Lessons Learned
Brodeur did its part: the media showed up in droves. More than 50 print media reps attended a preview the day before the exhibition opened to the public. But, as with most
electronics extravaganzas, the display didn't go off without a hitch. "Sometimes our technology does not work," admits Terry Fassburg, VP of brand communication at Philips. More
than 7,100 consumers toured the exhibit during its 25-day run, but for the first few days a fresh-out-of-the-box digital TV recorder was not broadcasting onto the display walls as
planned. Philips had to bring in an AV technician to remain on site for the remaining 21 days, just to keep the device programmed properly.
Another small glitch involved public misunderstanding of the difference between a real product and a concept item. Everybody loved the glass toaster (who doesn't want to see
their morning slice browning?) but Philips does not actually make one yet. Fassburg says the company switchboard was "flooded with calls" from people trying to buy the item. It's
a fair bet that most hung up feeling pretty disappointed.
Also, it turned out U.S. consumers hated the Internet-enabled bathroom mirror, complete with camera. (Duh.)
On the plus side, Fassburg says, "the primary lesson we learned was that if you are going to have a retail partner, have a great one." Saks Fifth Avenue used the Philips
display to inaugurate its formerly-vacant ninth floor as an exhibition space. "They really saw the staging of this event as a means of enlarging their customer base," says
Fassburg. "They don't carry home furnishings, and so this brought a new and well-heeled consumer into their store, and allowed them to talk to publications they ordinarily don't
have a chance to deal with. They truly were an equal stakeholder in this project."
Bottom Line
Philips spent $1 million on the entire effort: one-third for the physical production and installation, and the rest for PR and associated expenses. Print coverage generated
more than 82 million impressions. Broadcasts ran on five national and 32 local and cable networks, for some 13 million impressions in all. (Fassburg, 212/536-0810; Nikolovski,
203/399-8200)
-Adam Katz-Stone
Measure of the Present
Philips and Brodeur both declared the show a success - and a benchmark study of consumers' "unaided awareness" of Philips (conducted by the research firm Radar) was perhaps
most telling. When Philips first launched its branding effort in the U.S. in 1996, its awareness rating was 3%. By the end of 1999, the number was hovering between 48% and 50%,
using the same metric.
The "La Casa" display constituted only one component of the integrated branding effort to which Fassburg attributes the jump (advertising and integrated marcom campaigns for
specific product brands and divisions also fell into the mix). Nevertheless, Fassburg speculates the exhibition played a "fairly significant" role in gaining consumer
mindshare.
Brodeur Stats
Founded: 1985
HQ: Boston, Mass. (although the Philips account is handled by the N.Y. Metro/Conn. office)
Clients: IBM, Fidelity Investments, MasterCard, Corning Inc.
Billings (1999): $70.1 million (worldwide)
Employees: 800 (worldwide)
On the Web: http://www.brodeur.com
Campaign Time Frame: Planning began in April 1999. Show ran Sept.14 through Oct. 9, 1999.
Key Campaign Players:
- Terry Fassburg, VP of PR, Philips Electronics North America
- David Thompson, Senior Manager, Brand Communications, Philips Electronics North America
- Paula Gifford, VP, Consumer Technology
- Michael Beckerich, Account Supervisor
- Anne Thomas, Assistant AE
- Mira Sleilati, Account Coordinator